Issues of water resources use in the USSR in the 1970s – 1980s (based on the materials of the Council for Studying the Productive Forces under the USSR State Planning Committee)

Abstract

Water is one of the leading and popular topics in environmental history. It very quickly moved from a purely natural category to a naturaltechnical and socio-economic category. In the life of any society, water acts as an element of productive forces, thus influencing the socio-economic development of both the country as a whole and its separate regions. In the second half of the 20^th century, water as a natural resource becomes crucial for the intensive development of industry and agriculture in the USSR. Its rational use and protection turn out to be not only strictly ecological-geographical, but also major economic issues. The article, on the materials of the fund of the Council for Studying the Productive Forces under the USSR State Planning Committee (deposited at the Russian State Archives of the Economy, fund 399, inventory 3) considers the issues of water use and the protection of water resources in the USSR in the 1970s – 1980s. The analysis of the materials of the fund on the use of water resources in the national economy and their protection allows one to judge the overall picture of water availability in the country as a whole and its separate regions, to consider the main issues associated with the uneven distribution of water resources and their contamination as a result of excessive anthropogenic load; the study also makes it possible to describe the achievements and issues of Russian hydrological science. The identified materials can be in demand at the present stage of socio-economic development of the country and can make an important contribution to the implementation of an interdisciplinary approach to the study and solution of water issues.